Sunday, April 13, 2014

Okay, so you may remember that at about 12w I had a minor bleed and ended up in the emergency room in the middle of the night? Well, this evening I had another, very very very minor bleed.

It took me all of 3 seconds to argue with myself about whether or not to call my midwife. I lost that debate and texted her immediately. I knew with near certainty that everything was fine, but bleeding is literally at the top of the list of things to call her for. And last visit she had drilled all the signs of pre term labour into me. And she would have my head on a platter if I didn't call her. So. I behaved myself and called.

She was really lovely and concerned, but it is always a hyper-awkward conversation discussing the intricacies of a bleed. Look away now cos TMI coming up....

... Went to the loo and wiped, got a mixture of pale pinky brown mucus type blood and also some bright red fresh blood. But only a super teeny tiny amount. And baby was (is) moving. And I felt fine. Well, sore lower back which is kinda new, and oh shit isn't that a sign of pre term labour? Yes, txt the midwife!

She let me know that I needed to go straight up to labour and delivery. She would call ahead for me, and that I would most probably have to stay in overnight so pack a bag. I am sooo thankful that we live less than 2mins drive from the hospital. Can see it from the road out front of our house. Comfortingly close.

Hubby was out of the house with the 2 younger step kids (eldest has gone to college last week!!!!) and in characteristically he had left his phone on the armchair. So I was just about to call step-daughter to try and get hold of him when they pulled up in the car. He helped me pack, grab extra supplies for the pump and Dex, and we both kind of felt a bit of nerves about having to go up there and the enormity of maybe needing to stay overnight. Serious stuff. But we were calm.

We got up there and met with the on call midwife, S. Ours was 40mins away and didn't know whether it was serious enough to warrant her coming in. S was lovely and looked after us very well. She made up a room for us and got me to do a urine sample, then took my blood pressure and hooked up the CTG monitor to check baby's heartbeat.

Everything came back fine and normal. We got a good long look at Tiny Fish's heartbeat sitting around 120 - 140bpm. There was also heaps and heaps of fetal movement. It seemed that Tiny Fish took an instant dislike to the CTG monitors strapped to my belly as he/she kept trying to kick it off!

Hubby ducked out the room to go to the bathroom and there was drama in the corridor as a lady got wheeled in a wheelchair at top speed towards a delivery suite, right past him. She was screaming some mighty screams - arrived right in the nick of time by the sounds of it!

After S switched the monitor off cos the results were perfect, showing no contractions and a very good heartbeat for bubs, we had to wait a short while for a doctor to arrive to do the exam. We used the time to install a new Dexcom sensor since is taken the old one off that arvo, after 21 days of brave and valuable service.

Then Dr K arrived and asked a few more questions. S prepared me for the exam with a sheet overtop and it was actually quite a hilarious event as all four of us were laughing and joking about how with S doing the exam (training) that she was going to put all the doctors out of a job! Hehe

It was over quickly and the good news was my cervix showed no signs of dilation or any serious bleeding. The urine test came back negative for bacteria so that helped rule out a bladder/kidney infection. They concluded that we may never know what caused the bleed, although the low lying placenta could be a potential cause.

I am intrigued to realize that both this bleed and the previous one have been right on the cusp of a change in trimester. Maybe it's partially a hormonal fluctuation causing it? Maybe it's exhaustion, or blood sugars (had a few more lows overnight, but a bit high today, generally ok though, just done a big set of pump changes with DNE) or maybe it's a delayed reaction to having the flu shot and whooping cough vaccination last week. Who knows.

The good news is that all is well, and even if I feel a bit ridiculous traipsing up to the hospital I am very relieved to know for sure that it's all well and good. Tiny Fish is happy in it's apartment. :)

About Kaitake

I'm a type 1 diabetic woman living in New Zealand. I'm recording my experiences in deciding to have a baby with my husband, and our journey through doctor's visits, procedures, vasectomy reversal, sperm retrieval, ivf, icsi, and (hopefully) pregnancy and birth. Comments and feedback most welcome.